Brain Rot: Meet the people who ditched their smartphones
We've all dreamt of lobbing our smartphone into the ocean and going off grid.So what happens when you follow through with it?For the final episode of Brain Rot, we speak to the people who decided they'd had enough.From a French village, to Gen Z 'luddites' in New York City and a group of parents in regional Victoria, there are clubs, campaigns and even laws dedicated to a smartphone-free life.But in 2025, how do you pull it off? And is it actually worth it?This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind from Sunday 19 October.Guests:Stan AwtreySportswriter, The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionVincent Paul-PetitMayor, Seine-Port, FranceLisa GivenProfessor of Information Sciences, RMIT UniversitySteph ChallisFounder, The Phone PledgeJameson ButlerCo-Founder, The Luddite ClubCredits:Presenter: Ange LavoipierreProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Ross RichardsonThanks to Sam Goerling for the assistance with French translation.This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.More Information:The Luddite ClubParents unite to ban teens from smartphones amid social media minimum age reviewYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
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Brain Rot: Internet addiction
Plenty of people will say they are addicted to the internet. But how well-recognised, scientifically, is an addiction … to your screen?In episode four of Brain Rot, we dig into how behavioural addictions work.And we hear from self-described internet addicts about the treatment programs helping them manage their relationship with technology.This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind in mid-October.Guests:Jillian and KateInternet and Technology Addiction Anonymous membersHilarie CashPsychologist and Co-Founder, reSTARTAnna LembkeProfessor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Stanford University School of MedicineAnastasia HronisClinical Psychologist; Author, The Dopamine BrainDar MeshiAssociate Professor, Michigan State UniversityCredits:Presenter: Ange LavoipierreProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Tim SymondsThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.More Information:Changes and correlates of screen time in adults and children during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta analysis — eClinical Medicine, 2022.Internet-addicted South Korean children sent to digital detox boot camp.The Dopamine Brain — Anastasia Hronis.Everyone is on their phones. But are we actually addicted? The Guardian, 2024.Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous.Dopamine Nation — Anna Lembke.Inside the rehab saving young men from their internet addiction — The Guardian, 2017Other episodes related to focus and our relationship with smart phones:When doom scrolling leads to actual harmShould you do a 'dopamine detox'?Sick of scrolling? Digital minimalism could helpFighting for focus in the age of distractionYou can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
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Brain Rot: What is tech doing to your memory?
We're trusting tech with more tasks than ever — including the ones our brains once did.We're Googling things we used to know, taking screenshots of things we'll instantly forget, and hoarding all kinds of data we'll never check again.On this episode of Brain Rot: is tech giving your brain a holiday, or putting it out of a job?You'll also meet a guy who's turned the tables, by using AI to help recover his lost memories.This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind in mid-October.Guests:Dr Julia SoaresAssistant Professor, Mississipi State UniversityMorris VillaroelAcademic, Spain; LifeloggerMaxCredits:Presenter: Ange LavoipierreProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Tim SymondsThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.More Information:Memory in the Digital Age — Oxford Handbook of Human Memory, 2024.Lifelog Retrieval from Daily Digital Data: Narrative Review — JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2022.People mistake the internet's knowledge for their own — PNAS, 2021.Data Selves: More-Than-Human Perspectives — Deborah Lupton, 2019.One man's 10-year experiment to record every moment — BBC, 2019.The case for using your brain — even if AI can think for you — Vox, 2025.You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
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Brain Rot: Will AI turn us off human relationships?
Whether it’s social media, the omnipresent smartphone or AI companions, in recent decades the way we relate to each other has been completely up-ended.In episode two of Brain Rot, we explore the potential implications that tech poses to human relationships.Worldwide estimates suggest there are around one billion users of AI companions — people using software or applications designed to simulate human-like interactions through text and voice.So if the uptake of these AI companions is as rapid as is being reported, what are the ramifications? And could AI companions be both a cause and cure for loneliness? This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind in mid-October.Guests:KellyIn a relationship with an AI companion, ChristianBethanie Drake-MaplesDoctoral Candidate, Research Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centred Artificial IntelligenceNicholas EpleyProfessor of Behavioural Science, University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessNicholas CarrAuthor and journalistCredits:Presenter: Ange LavoipierreProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Tim SymondsThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.More Information:Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots — npj Mental Health Research, 2024.Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one — Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022.Talking with strangers is surprisingly informative — PNAS, 2022.Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart — Nicholas Carr, 2025.You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
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Brain Rot: Is your phone destroying your attention span?
Everyone seems to have a hunch that their phone is destroying their attention span, but is there any science to back it up?In episode one of Brain Rot, we’re doing our best to focus on the topic of attention for a full 25 minutes — and find out what's actually happening in your brain every time your phone buzzes or dings.Is brain rot a real thing? Or just another moral panic?And how do you know when your own screen use has gone too far?This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind in mid-October.Guests:Anna SeirianCEO, Internet PeopleDr Mark WilliamsProfessor, Macquarie University; Cognitive neuroscientistMichoel MoshelClinical Neuropsychologist Registrar; Phd Candidate, Macquarie UniversityProfessor Marion ThainProfessor of Culture and Technology, University of Edinburgh; Director, Edinburgh Futures InstituteCredits:Presenter: Ange LavoipierreProducer: Fiona PepperSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Brendan O'NeillMore information:Neuropsychological Deficits in Disordered Screen Use Behaviours: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis - Neuropsychology Review, 2024.Do we have your attention? How people focus and live in the modern information environment - King's College London, 2022.Internet addiction-induced brain structure and function alterations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity studies - Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2023.You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
All In The Mind is ABC RN's weekly podcast looking into the mental universe, the mind, brain and behaviour — everything from addiction to artificial intelligence.
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